How to get rid of extra things in your fridge...

I`m currently living with my sister and brother-in-law. No, I`m not a loser. I just finished school this summer, moved out here, got a job, and am saving to get a place of my own.  Anyway, one of the trade-offs for my living here is meal preparation.  They are my guinea pigs!  I don`t think I`ve even made the same thing twice in the past 4 months I have cooked for them.  Even though it`s not my fridge and pantry, I hate to see food wasted.  I always try and go through the fridge to see what is about to expire in a few days and use it in whatever I`m preparing that night. So this week, it was 2% fat plain Dannon yogurt. (My brother-in-law likes plain yogurt) It was one of the larger containers and I thought "What could I do with this?"  So being child of Generation X, I naturally turned to the internet: www.dannon.com/recipes  I realized we also had bananas that were getting spots and turning brown so I immediately thought: banana bread!  I found a recipe for "Warm Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Crunch Topping". Well, I never can just stick to a recipe I find....I always have to change it.  So I did!

My recipe was quite different: I made banana BREAD not muffins and left off the cinnamon crunch topping (although that did sound quite yummy). I also added flax seed mill to the batter for some added nutrition...see my nutritional note that follows the recipe. Another change I made was the yogurt. I used "plain" since that`s all we had, while their recipe used vanilla. If you could get hold of some banana yogurt, that would be best.  I don`t think it`s that common here in the US, but I saw it a lot in Europe. I changed the baking temperature and time as well, 375 degrees for 35 minutes worked best for the bread. (The batter made extra so I just used it to make 4 muffins which baked to perfection in 20 minutes!)


Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup Dannon® 2% Fat Plain Yogurt
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 eggs
• 2 ripe banans, mashed
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2-3 tablespoons flaxseed mill
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a standard loaf pan and 4 cups of a standard muffin tin (the recipe makes a little extra).

In a large bowl combine yogurt and oats; let stand 5 minutes. To yogurt mixture add eggs, banana, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium to high speed until mixed well and banana has been completely pureed. In another bowl combine flour, flaxseed mill, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add this to yogurt-oat mixture. Stir to combine ingredients, but do not over-stir. Fold in mini chocolate chips.

Pour batter to fill about 1/2 of loaf pan. Pour remaining batter into 4 cups of standard muffin tin. Put both pan and tin into preheated oven. Bake muffins for 20 minutes and bread for a total of 35 minutes.

This was some of the best bread we have ever tried!  The oatmeal gave it a great texture and the yogurt made it very moist, which is something that typical banana breads are lacking in.

From a nutritional standpoint:
*Flaxseed mill/oil is a source of omega-3 fatty acids/polyunsaturated fats.  This is a good fat!  It helps lower "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and raise "good" cholesterol (HDL). The ground mill is also a very good source of fiber.